A few months ago I was driving down a busy street when traffic came to a screeching halt. Four lanes of vehicles all waiting for a flock of geese to cross the road. As I sat and impatiently waited and watched the 30 or so geese meander across the road I said out loud “Geez Louise!  You can fly so why are you walking!!!”

Of course this got me giggling and then pondering about why would a goose walk as opposed to fly.  So I googled it and found interesting facts like why geese fly in the V formation, how the leader of the flock is determined etc.  Quite fascinating really.  I didn’t find out WHY a goose would choose to fly and imagine there is some goose whisperer that could probably answer the question 😉

And of course my coaching mind got me thinking of how many times in my life that I have been unaware that I could “fly”.  Thankfully I have people in my life to encourage me and also being a bit of a dare devil I was willing to actually try to fly from time to time.  Not knowing that you can fly is certainly something that I often see in myself and my clients.

But what about forgetting to fly?!  It wasn’t until recently where I realized I had truly forgotten that I could fly.

In case you are wondering what part of life I forgot to fly, it was having a consistent daily routine.  In my corporate life I was as consistent as I could be.  I knew exactly what to do, how to do, and when to do every action every day.  From getting my coffee to managing contracts.  From the route to work to managing proposals.  From meetings to analysis, I had my routine down.  Somehow, once I left corporate I forgot.  I needed someone to remind me that I could fly AND I needed to experience flying again.  I am happy to report I am “flying” again, am more productive, more effective and much happier 🙂

Like the geese, by me not flying, I actually influenced others in ways I never knew.  By not using a daily routine I negatively impacted myself, my clients and even my family.  When I am not flying, I am not myself.

Conversely, when I fly, I am no longer blocking traffic.  I am allowing things to flow naturally and the way they should in my own life as well as in others.

Coaching question:  What area of your life or business have you forgotten to fly?

We are officially in the 3rd week of January and hopefully your New Years Resolution is still rolling along.  But I wanted to bring something to light that could happen.  Stalled momentum.  It is something that happens to even the most successful people and often times at the most inopportune times.

My clients and I too, have experienced that point where something just stops clicking.  It’s pretty frustrating because it is not like a switch that just shuts off but more like a slow sputtering to a full on stall.  You lose momentum and drive and at a certain point, checking yourself out at some level.  Here are the symptoms:

• Feeling somewhat disconnected to your goal
• “Something” seems to come up that causes you to redirect your focus
• Focusing on what is not working instead of what is
• Questioning the value of what you are working toward
• Wondering if you can really do what you set out to do
• Looking at other options to completing your goal
• Not following through on commitments to yourself, your business or your clients.

If this is where you are, please know that it is completely normal!  It is part of the development process and happens to everyone at some point in the growth evolution!

So what is the cause and why does it happen?

The cause…your STUFF!  Your stuff is coming up and trying to hijack the progress you have already made.  Your patterns are either showing up in a way that you have seen before OR they are showing up in a different but equally as damaging way.  It is like a flu bug that evolves into a different strain of virus.

If you are not in this place I ask that you book mark this blog and come back to it, for IF you do end up in this place.

If you are here now, I ask  “are you going to let your Stuff break the commitment you made to yourself and success?” I encourage you to use your internal and external resources to move beyond this stall.

As a coach, it is my job to challenge and support my clients ALL the way to success. It is my job to hold a higher standard for my clients because I TRULY believe they can accomplish great things.

Whether I am your coach or you have someone else, if you are stalled, reach out to your coach for the support that can take you all the way down the road of Success!

Every year in December I like to evaluate my business and life.  Where am I at, where have I come and where am I going?  It is a process that I absolutely love because it allows me to recount my challenges, learnings, and success.  This has been such a powerful exercise for me that I developed the Business Achievement Self Study for my clients.  You can check out the self study but the point of this blog is to highlight the process by which we all develop and grow.

Without understanding where you have been, it is difficult to understand why you are where you are now.  Or as Tony Horton says in P90X, “If you don’t know what you did, how can you know what to do”.  The power of this perspective goes beyond it’s simplicity.  It is truly about modifying your mindset.  It is about setting yourself up for success at your very core!

Where have you been?

Have you ever done a mindless task to get to the end of it and feel no amount of gratification or fulfillment?  You know, something like go through your email or attend a weekly meeting (where nothing was accomplished) or even just drive into work?  You went through the motions and maybe even paid attention for a moment or two but ultimately was on autopilot.

Now compare that to accomplishing something big and grueling like completing your taxes or creating a big program or putting together a conference where by the end of it you not only were somewhat exhausted but you felt absolutely accomplished!

Isn’t that what we all strive for?  To have a sense of accomplishment?  To feel like what we did mattered, made a difference, reached a goal?!

Well the truth of it is that it doesn’t matter if we are on autopilot or working through a big challenging or exciting process, what we do does matter.  What we do either moves us toward our goal or leaves us stagnate or even worse moves us away from our goal.

Where are you at?

So where are you now?  After looking at your past efforts where are you at and why?  How did that action that you took 3 months ago ultimately contribute to where you are now?

I read an article , The Secret to Great Leadership – October 2012 edition of Success Magazine, where the author said that great leaders “don’t act like managers; they act like coaches”.  I believe the author has a good point but I would like to take it even a step further…great leaders don’t “act like coaches” they are coaches in some capacity.

This is a subtle distinction but one worth diving into.  As a business coach, the bulk of my work is on supporting clients in being who they need to be for ultimate success.  It is about acquiring the mindset, skills and actions for success and fulfillment.  It is about doing the right things but more importantly about believing and taking actions that are in alignment with their values, purpose, and vision.  Coaching is creating awareness, developing strategy, and set up action plans that work!  Being a coach is about curiosity, support, collaboration, cheerleading, and co-creation.

If you are a leader and want to be a coach, here are 5 keys to being one:

1. Understand that coaching is about helping others find their answers.  If you are giving them the answers, you are consulting or mentoring.
2. Be inquisitive (about coaching and about your team) – The first and foremost important trait of coaches is being inquisitive.  When you truly are curious, it removes judgement and allows for maximum learning connecting to whomever or whatever you are curious about.
3. Hire a coach – the best way to become a coach is to experience coaching first hand.
4. Learn to coach – Educate yourself on what coaching is through reading books, taking workshops or enrolling in an accredited coaching school (COACH U is my school of choice).
5. Commune with Coaches – Engage in the conversation with other coaches so that you are more often in the coaching mindset.

Coaching question:  What are you most curious about for each member on your team?

It’s the first week of January and you probably have already finished your strategic planning, completed your vision board, wrote down your goals, have your action plan and are ready to go.  If you haven’t, no worries, you still have time to get your plans in place 🙂  You are likely excited about your future and have bigger goals set than you have in quite some time.  This is going to be your year!  I know because that is exactly what I am feeling.  It is exactly what I feel every New Years day.

You my be wondering why the “now what” question.  Well, after years of coaching clients that feel this same thing, I have heard many of them say “my plan is great but what if I lose my momentum?”.  And every client that says this to me hears the same answer “That’s why you hired me…to help you keep your excitement, momentum,drive and action through all of changes, challenges and transitions that this new year will bring”

We all know that well laid out plans are the start of effective execution AND we also know that life and business happens.  The key is to know your purpose, stay focused, keep in the right action, and have the right mindset.  It’s really a pretty simple equation.

SUCCESS = PURPOSE + RIGHT MINDSET + FOCUS + RIGHT ACTION

You hire a business coach to support you with all of these things plus….drum roll please….HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE!  You have to be accountable, not just in your action, but in your mindset, purpose, and focus.  You have to be accountable to BE the person who accomplishes great things!

Coaching Question: Who do you have in your corner that can help you BE the person who accomplishes great things!